


Come By Here

by cofax



Series: This is Not Wartime [1]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: AU, Apocafic, Gen, This is Not Wartime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-09
Updated: 2010-03-09
Packaged: 2017-10-07 19:59:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cofax/pseuds/cofax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Halfway through the first pint, the mountain blows up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come By Here

This time there is no warning.

The clouds catch the last rays of the sunset high above; Teal'c turns   
his head to watch the colors change as O'Neill turns into the parking   
lot. They planned steaks, and beer, and maybe a late movie at the   
cinema a short distance away.

They never get to the steaks.

Halfway through the first pint, the mountain blows up.

O'Neill's eyes widen, and Teal'c looks out the window in time to see   
the cloud roll upwards, blotting out the sky, the sunset, the world.   
Then the rumble hits, a sound so large it shakes the building, knocks   
O'Neill's beer off the table, and drowns out the shocked cries around   
them. The roar goes on for a long time, and dies away only to allow   
for the blaring of alarms.

An hour later, after helping the injured as much as they could and   
dozens of fruitless attempts to call out, they stumble outside to the   
parking lot. The dust is thick in the air, layered inches deep on   
every surface, and they wrap napkins around their faces to breathe.   
It doesn't help much. Sirens wail, but even in the dust the sky above   
is disturbingly empty. If there are any vessels above them, goa'uld   
or tau'ri, they cannot be seen. Teal'c suspects there are no tau'ri   
vessels anymore.

The truck starts reluctantly. O'Neill is silent as he drives; Teal'c   
stares out the window, his hands empty. He is alive, and he would not   
be were it not for a long off-world mission and O'Neill's fondness   
for Jake's beer selection.

With some care, they wind their way around the central part of town,   
heading for the west side of town. They have not spoken since they   
left the restaurant.

"O'Neill."

O'Neill grunts. It's completely dark now: no street lamps, no moon,   
no light but for that from other cars, driving recklessly. They pass   
several collisions, but O'Neill does not stop.

"The goa'uld will have destroyed your major cities, too. And your   
military installations."

O'Neill's voice is clipped, tight with restraint. "I know, Teal'c."   
He guns the truck through the next intersection, and the engine   
coughs, falters, and recovers. "Shit."

They are fortunate: Major Carter is in her home, and answers the door   
gun in hand. She hugs them both fiercely, and ushers them back to the   
kitchen, where a candle illuminates a large box half-full of canned   
goods and random equipment.

"Daniel?" O'Neill asks. She shakes her head. She is dressed simply,   
in jeans and a dark shirt: as close as she can come to her BDUs,   
Teal'c realizes, without being in uniform.

The light from the candle shimmers in Carter's eyes and reflects off   
the pots suspended in the kitchen, but O'Neill's face is shadowed,   
giving back only darkness and resolution. Carter closes her eyes,   
opens them to meet O'Neill's, and then reaches into the cabinet for   
another box of cereal.

They never expected to be out of the mountain when it happened. They   
never expected to be separated when it happened. They have had six   
years of implausibly good luck, and even Teal'c allowed himself to   
believe it could continue. He knows better now.

In the weeks of their long journey east, as he keeps watch outside   
each day's dreary hideout, he will allow himself to resent the   
humans' contagious optimism. The Stargate is destroyed, and Chulak is   
lost to him. The tau'ri will not bring freedom for the jaffa.

They will never find out what happened to Daniel.

 

END


End file.
